Ball Hitting Practice Device

ABSTRACT

A ball hitting practice device includes a base member having a reception portion on a top thereof and a spherical recess is defined in an underside of the reception portion. A passage is defined through the reception portion and communicates with the spherical recess. A post can be a single post or composed of multiple sections. The post has a base part at a lower end thereof and a cup is connected to a top of the post. The base part is matched with the spherical recess and a diameter of the post is smaller than an inner diameter of the passage. The post extends through the passage and a top of the base part is in contact with an inner surface of the spherical recess. A positioning cap is fixed to the underside of the base member so as to position the base part. A ball is put on the cup and the user hits the ball to practice hitting skills.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a ball hitting practicedevice which includes a post on a base member and a ball is supported onthe post which can be adjusted its angle relative to the base member

2. The Prior Arts

A baseball or softball hitting practice device in the market includes abase member with a post on the base member and a ball can be held on thetop of the post so that the user hits the ball to practice hittingskill. The post is perpendicular to the base member so that the user canonly hit the ball at the fixed position. However, the ball comes fromdifferent heights and angles in real games so that the conventional ballhitting practice device cannot meet requirements of the users. Besides,the length of the post cannot be adjusted and needs to be improved.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,554 discloses a ball hitting practice device whichis disclosed in FIG. 5 and includes a base member 10 with a frame 11located thereon and a semi-spherical recess 111 is defined in the frame11. A post includes a first section 23 and a second section 24 which isflexible and a connection tube 22 is connected to the flexible secondsection 24. A sphere 21 is o connected to the first section 23. Theconnection tube 22 further is connected with an extension rod 40 whichhas a cup 41 on a top thereof. A foam tube 30 is mounted to the firstand second sections 23, 24 and the sphere 21 is pivotably engaged withthe semi-spherical recess 111. The sphere 21 is pivotable in thesemi-spherical recess 111 and the second section 24 can be bent and theextension rod 40 can be optionally connected to the second section 24 sothat the post can be hit to pivot toward different directions. Thelength of the post can be adjusted by using the extension rod 40.However, the sphere 21 is not well positioned in the semi-sphericalrecess 111 and can be disengaged from the semi-spherical recess 111.Furthermore, the extension rod 40 and the connection tube 22 are alwaysperpendicular to the ground and this restricts the position of the ballcan be set relative to the user so that the user cannot practice hittingregarding different angles. The user can only choose to connect or notconnect the extension rod 40 to adjust the length of the post and thisadjustment range is too narrow and cannot fit to different users' needs.

Another ball hitting practice device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,204,769 which includes a base member 12 with an opening 28 and a frame25 extends through the opening 28 from the underside of the base member12. The frame 25 is fixed to the base member 12 by extending screws 29through the flange 33 on the frame 25 and connected to the base member21. A locking nut 35 is located to contact the underside of the frame 25which includes ridges 27. A post includes a top section 22 and a bottomsection 24, wherein the top section 22 includes a flexible section 48and a plurality of grooves defined in the top section 22. The bottomsection 24 is connected to a cover 26 and a plurality of ridges formedon the bottom section 24. The top section 22 is mounted to the bottomsection 24 and the ridges are engaged with the grooves so that the topand bottom sections 22, 24 can be adjusted their relative positions toobtain different heights for the post. The cover 26 is connected to theframe 25 so as to set the post and engaged with the ridges on the frame25. A bolt 34 extends through the locking nut 35 and the frame 25 so asto be connected to the cover 26. A cup 16 is connected to the top of theflexible section 48 and the top section 22 includes a separation layer46, a flexible cable 42 is connected between the cup 16 and theseparation layer 46. The post can be set to inclined positions relativeto the base member 12. Thanks to the flexible cable 42, the cup 16 canbe pulled to desired position and then connected to the top of the postby bosses extending from an underside of the cup 16. Besides, the bottomsection 24 is retractable relative to the top section 22 to adjust thelength of the post. By the adjustable post and the cup 16, the ballhitting practice device provides much more different molds for the userto practice hitting. Nevertheless, the ball hitting practice deviceincludes too many parts and spends a lot of time to assemble ormanufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a ballhitting practice device which improves the drawbacks of the conventionalball hitting practice devices by providing adjustable post and cup.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a ball hittingpractice device which is composed of less number of parts and can beassembled and manufactured within a short period of time.

According to the present invention, a ball hitting practice device isprovided and comprises a base member having a reception portionextending from a top thereof and a spherical recess is defined in anunderside of the reception portion. A passage is defined through thereception portion and communicates with the spherical recess. A post hasa base part at a lower end thereof and a cup is connected to a top ofthe post. The base part has an outer periphery that is matched with thespherical recess and a diameter of the post is smaller than an innerdiameter of the passage. The post extends through the passage from anunderside of the base member and a top of the base part is in contactwith an inner surface of the spherical recess. A positioning cap has aconvex top which is shaped to match with the underside of the base partso that when the positioning cap is fixed to the underside of the basemember, the base part is clamped between the positioning cap and thebase member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art byreading the following detailed description of a preferred embodimentthereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a ball hitting practice device inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the ball hitting practice device inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A shows an underside of a base member of the ball hitting practicedevice of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the connection of the base member, afirst section and a positioning cap of the base member of the ballhitting practice device of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows that a post of the ball hitting practice device ispivotably moved;

FIG. 5 shows a conventional ball hitting practice device; and

FIG. 6 shows another conventional ball hitting practice device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, theball hitting practice device in accordance with the present inventioncomprises a base member 5, a post 7 on the base member 5, a positioningcap 6 connected to the underside of the base member 5 so as to beconnect the base member 5 and the post 7.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the base member 5 has a reception portion 50extending from a top thereof and a spherical recess 51 is defined in anunderside of the reception portion 50. A passage 52 is defined throughthe reception portion 50 and communicates with the spherical recess 51.The base member 5 is made to have a shape the same as a base plate in abaseball or softball game. As shown in FIG. 2A, a stepped recess 53 isdefined around the spherical recess 51 in the base member 5 and aplurality of fixing holes 54 are defined in a surface of the steppedrecess 53. The inner diameter of the stepped recess 53 is larger thanthe inner diameter of the passage 52.

The post 7 includes a first section 71, a second section 72 and a thirdsection 73. The number of the sections is not limited or the post 7 canbe a single post which provides a fixed height of hitting point. Theconnection between the three sections can be any known method such asforce-fitting, threaded connection, retractable mounting or boltsconnecting. The sections can be solid sections or hollow sections. Thediameter of each of the sections can be varied. The sections can alsohave a threaded rod on one end and a threaded hole in the other end suchthat the sections can be connected to each other by threading.

The first section 71 has a base part 711 at a lower end thereof and acup 74 is connected to a top of the post 7. A plurality of rods 742extend from a top of the cup 74 and arranged to define a concavity inthe center thereof, so that a ball can be positioned in the cup 74. Athreaded rod 741 extends from an underside thereof and the threaded rod742 is threadedly connected with a threaded hole 731 in the top of thethird section 73. The threaded rod 741 can be replaced with a rod andthe threaded hole can be replaced with a hole in which the rod isinserted. The cup 74 can also be integrally connected with the thirdsection 73.

The base part 711 has an outer periphery that is matched with thespherical recess 51 and a diameter of the post 7 is smaller than aninner diameter of the passage 52 so that the post 7 is allowed to bepivotable. The post 7 extends through the passage 52 from an undersideof the base member 5 and a top of the base part 711 is in contact withan inner surface of the spherical recess 51. The first and secondsections 71, 72 can be made by stiff material such as plastic so as tobe firmly connected with the base member 5, and the third section 73 andthe cup 74 can be made by softer material such as rubber.

The positioning cap 6 has a convex top 61 which is shaped to match withthe underside of the base part 711. The positioning cap 6 includes aflange 62 and through holes 63 are defined through the flange 62, theflange 62 is engaged with the stepped recess 63 and screws extendthrough the aligned through holes 63 and the fixing holes 54. When thepositioning cap 6 is fixed to the underside of the base member 5, thebase part 711 is clamped between the positioning cap 6 and the basemember 5.

When adjusting the post 7 relative to the base member 5, the screws onthe positioning cap 6 are first loosened and the base part 711 can bemoved within the spherical recess 51 of the reception portion 51, suchthat the post can be pivoted as shown in FIG. 4. The screws are thentightened to set the post 7 so that the user can practice hitting indifferent angular positions.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the artthat a variety of modifications and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention which is intended tobe defined by the appended claims.

1. A ball hitting practice device, comprising a base member having areception portion extending from a top thereof and a spherical recessdefined in an underside of the reception portion, a passage definedthrough the reception portion and communicating with the sphericalrecess; a post having a base part at a lower end thereof and a cupconnected to a top of the post, the base part having an outer peripherythat is matched with the spherical recess and a diameter of the postbeing smaller than an inner diameter of the passage, the post extendingthrough the passage from an underside of the base member and a top ofthe base part being in contact with an inner surface of the sphericalrecess; and a positioning cap having a convex top which is shaped tomatch with the underside of the base part so that when the positioningcap is fixed to the underside of the base member, the base part isclamped between the positioning cap and the base member.
 2. The deviceas claimed in claim 1, wherein the post includes a first section, asecond section and a third section, the base part is connected to alower end of the first section and the cup is connected to a top of thethird section.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cup hasa threaded rod extending from an underside thereof and a plurality ofrods extending from a top of the cup, the threaded rod is threadedlyconnected with a threaded hole in the top of the third section.
 4. Thedevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein a stepped recess is defined aroundthe spherical recess in the base member and a plurality of fixing holesare defined in a surface of the stepped recess, the positioning capincludes a flange and through holes are defined through the flange, theflange is engaged with the stepped recess and screws extend through thealigned through holes and the fixing holes.